After years of no postseason soccer for the Grizzlies, all Northside has to do is beat conference bottom-feeder Little Rock Hall on Friday and it will have its second Central title and second first-round by in the state tournament. Northside whipped the Warriors, 17-0, in the teams’ first meeting.

The overall race is a little tighter in 7A than it was last season. In 2013, the finale of Northside-Springdale was expected in most soccer circles. And while the two are still among the favorites, Northside’s conference crown comes down the final game of the season and the Bulldogs likely won’t finish in the top two in 7A West. Bryant, Fayetteville, Little Rock Catholic and Bentonville all pose serious threats to knock the defending champion Grizzlies from the top.

Sam Iraburo was part of last year’s championship team.

"We just have to take this momentum to state and go for back-to-back championships."

Lady Rebels Bounce Back

Last week’s penalty loss to Conway knocked Southside out of the running for a first-round bye on the girls side, but coach Jeremy Davis thinks this year’s team has plenty of talent to advance just as far as last year’s team that caught a bye and advanced to the 7A semifinals.

Southside looked the part on Wednesday, scoring five goals in a defeat of Northside. The Lady Rebels finished the regular-season 7-3 in the 7A/6A Central.

"We could be anywhere from 3 (seed) to 5 (seed)," Davis said. "I can’t really tell who’s going to be seeded where right now. It will all be Sunday afternoon to see who we got. I’d like to have the bye, but we’re going to get that. We’ll play whoever."

Subiaco Falls, Still Qualifies

The Subiaco Academy Trojans qualified for the 4A State Tournament by virtue of winning the south division of 4A-1 last week. The only thing left to determine is where the Trojans will slot into the bracket.

Subiaco fell, its only loss of the season, in the regular-season finale to Danville, but still drew the No. 1 seed from the South, opposite Berryville as the No. 1 seed from the North. Because the conference is split into two divisions, it holds a district tournament and the Trojans don’t play their first game in the tournament until Friday, thanks to getting a bye for winning the South, even with the loss to Danville.

"I’ve been telling (the team) for the last two weeks it doesn’t matter if you’re undefeated, it matters how you finish," Subiaco coach Annette Dunham said. "I think, you hate to have a loss, but I think it was beneficial to us at this time because now we’re much more focused on the task at hand."

Subiaco will play the winner of Green Forest and Dardanelle on Friday. The winner of that game will go to the District Championship while the loser will play for third place. All four of the final teams qualify for the State Tournament.

Improved Grizzlies Looking Toward State

Northside is sending 13 athletes to the 7A State Track Meet in Cabot today.

It’s not a huge contingent, but it’s more than Northside has sent in most recent years. First-year coach Felix Curry is taking baby steps toward getting the Grizzlies back to respectability on the state scale.

"I knew the numbers weren’t going to be great starting out," Curry said. "But this year, we have a clear understanding. I think if anything we established this year we have a nucleus of kids coming back that stuck it out and did what we asked them to do."

He will pine for the loss of his senior star, Jarek Turner, though, next year.

Turner qualified for four events, most on the team, including the 100- and 300-meter hurdles, 4x100 relay and the 4x400 relay. Turner is largely expected to win the 100- hurdles and think all four events could possibly net points.

"We’ve had a little more dedication this year than last year," Turner said. "The guys that are out here, they’re working hard. They’re getting it done and it’s really starting to show it."